Competition Law Everywhere

Here’s an example, found this morning when reading the news at breakfast.

In several recent lectures, I have explained that the case-law insulates organs with “exclusively social functions” from the ambit of the competition rules. This is especially the case of social schemes that operate under the solidarity principle (ECJ, C-159/91 et C-160/91, Poucet and Pistre).

Moreover, it seems that the governement does not force them to pass-on the price increase (in which case they could benefit from the act of State defense). Hence, the sole economic situation in which 100% repercussion would be unavoidable, is where the “mutualités” already price at marginal costs. Otherwise, if they make a profit, they can take part (or all) of the tax increase on their profits. In this case, they should compete on the tax increase absorption. A joint decision to transfer it on consumers should thus be forbidden, in that it chills competition.